My chickens wont stop pecking each other!!!! :/

[NaperLix]

I have found any dietary changes ,change nothing in regards to pecking.Some breeds are worse.Darkening coop with cardboard inside will work,very dark,just enough to see.
Melons,corn cobs work well for long pecking needs.Mine get everyday, both.
Welsummers were my worst.Some hate others so much,they will fight through glass,scratching the window..That breed is hyper a bit,I find.
I removed any pecked hens ,early on,they live in smaller coop,attached by wired door,they still see their old group.Small coop is built same,insulated,same safety features.One story high.They love it.I have third coop as well.This way each group or pair, is happy.I could not part with any,so I found a way.Plus, I like building things.
Outside a small movable fence devides large run,as needed,or can leave open.
If changes are too difficult to do,giving to a good home is best.These issues never go away with chickens.They just peck,some too much for a humane life.

 

[Foxinthehenhouse]

Do you have a rooster? Looks like from breeding.

 

[MissE]

Mine will give each other a hard peck to the head or neck when they want the food or treat all to themselves. They really can be stinkers sometimes.

Just before Christmas there was some kind of a fight. Not sure what happened. Everyone was fine at 8am. At 11am, there was blood everywhere and two had bloody butts. Great time to find out I was out of BlueKote and so was the feed store. Grrrr...

If it was summer time, it would have been easy to separate them, but this was northern MN in December. I have tractors, but they aren't sufficient shelter this time of year. Bringing them inside with the dogs was not an option. I needed to do something inside the coop. I have two rabbit cages from a research lab. The are steel with solid tops and bottoms. They are pretty small, 18x22, but they were all I had that could be stacked in the coop.

A few days in quarantine, and they were fine. Thank God! Filling their water three times a day because they couldn't access the heated waterer was not fun, and with temps of -25 being predicted for Christmas Eve, I wanted them back on the roost so the could cuddle up and stay warm.

I don't know what caused the problem, but everyone has behaved since. I left the cages in there, just in case. They have turned them into a playground and think they make great nest boxes. It gives them new places to play and have some privacy, so if some is getting picked on, they have a safe spot.

During the summer they have 2000 sq ft to roam, so there are very few arguments. Winter time they are in the coop and run. There's lots of room, but it still cuts down on their freedom.

This summer, I plan on building new nest boxes, but I think I will do a double decker and modify one level to work as a make shift holding cell in case I need separate birds in the future.

 

[Chickdeb7]

I haven't thought of a xylaphone! do they tend to be loud with those?
how would I stop them from just sitting on it?

Use a kids/toddler one

 

[Sllovenberg]

Could it be a rooster having his way?

 

[Shahnaz13]

Ive tried giving them some cabbage on a string, that seemed to stop it for a while but I don't have an endless supply of cabbage and was trying to think of other things.

You could put (unbreakable!) mirrors up, chairs (if there is enough place) or other things to sit on. We had some weeks ago a wonderful article on this site about how to keep chickens entertained.
Sorry, I can't find the original article I'm looking for (maybe somebody else can help but that might give you some ideas too.

 

[Shahnaz13]

Use a kids/toddler one

Nail it to the wall or fix it to the fence - I have seen it done.

 

[Chickenclaude]

One of my girls was picked on in the same way...but I believe what started it was when she lost her feathers and her new ones hadn’t come in yet. I made her an apron and that helped. I made sure that they got free range time...and that slowed it a bit. Empty a water bottle put some holes in it and some treats that they can snack on. Good luck....once her new feathers were in it stopped.